editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Julie McCarthy has traveled the world as an international correspondent for NPR, heading NPR's Tokyo bureau, reporting from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and covering the news and issues of South America. McCarthy is currently NPR's correspondent based in New Delhi, India. In April 2009, McCarthy moved to Islamabad to open NPR's first permanent bureau in Pakistan. Before moving to Islamabad, McCarthy was NPR's South America correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. McCarthy covered the Middle East for NPR from 2002 to 2005, when she was dispatched to report on the Israeli incursion into the West Bank. Previously, McCarthy was the London Bureau Chief for NPR, a position that frequently took her far from her post to cover stories that span the globe. She spent five weeks in Iran during the war in Afghanistan, covered the re-election of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and traveled to the Indian island nation of Madagascar to report on the political and ecological developments there.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Julie McCarthySun, 20 Aug 2017 14:18:09 +0000Julie McCarthyhttp://wknofm.org
Julie McCarthyOn a recent weekday, Vamsi Komarala guides me up to the rooftop of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, where he teaches physics. Fields of solar panels adorn the buildings. I swipe an index finger across one of the panels to see if weeks of monsoon rains have washed it clean. My finger comes back filthy with grit. Vamsi tells me the panels are washed twice a week, then explains the grime: "That is because in New Delhi, we have a lot of dust." Dust is just one factor. The capital city and much of northern India are routinely shrouded in man-made pollutants. In fact, Delhi vies with Beijing for the dirtiest air in the world. Many of India's 1.3 billion people — a fifth of the world's population — face pollution that is cutting short lives, stunting children's cognitive development and putting public health under terrific stress. Air pollution is the leading risk factor for most deaths and disabilities in India, a country that's home to 13 of 20 of the world'sAs India's Climate Changes, Farmers In The North Experiment With New Cropshttp://wknofm.org/post/indias-climate-changes-farmers-north-experiment-new-crops
94442 as http://wknofm.orgSun, 20 Aug 2017 11:59:00 +0000As India's Climate Changes, Farmers In The North Experiment With New CropsJulie McCarthyPromila Saigal remembers the men in her family tossing her "like a football" from the rooftop of one family home to the next, in a bid to save her from the frenzy that washed over the Indian subcontinent 70 years ago. Saigal was just six when the events of India's Partition pressed in around her Hindu family's compound in Lahore. "I remember very clearly, outside the main road, a mob had collected at 12 o'clock in the night. And they woke us up," she says. In the nights that followed, she and other children were shuttled from one relative's home to the next. When they finally boarded a train for India, she recalls, "We would be scared because we were hearing stories that they were stopping trains and killing people." Her family safely slipped into India. But Saigal, now 76, remembers growing up "terrified of Muslims." The stroke of midnight on Aug. 15, 1947, heralded a tectonic shift: India gained independence, ending 200 years of the British Raj, and redeeming, in the words ofFor India's Oldest Citizens, Independence Day Spurs Memories Of A Painful Partitionhttp://wknofm.org/post/indias-oldest-citizens-independence-day-spurs-memories-painful-partition
94241 as http://wknofm.orgTue, 15 Aug 2017 18:48:00 +0000For India's Oldest Citizens, Independence Day Spurs Memories Of A Painful PartitionJulie McCarthyIndia announced the election of its new president Thursday — but before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP party nominated him last month to be head of state, few saw Ram Nath Kovind coming. Kovind secured 65 percent of the votes from an electoral college drawn from more than 4,000 members of 31 legislative assemblies across the country and 776 members of Parliament. He will take office as India's 14th president next week. Kovind, 71, had been plucked from from the largely ceremonial post of governor in the impoverished northern Indian state of Bihar. He served two terms in the upper chamber of India's Parliament, the Rayja Sabha. As a lawyer, he practiced before the Supreme Court, but his law career is said to have left no distinguished record of cases. Both Kovind and his opponent, the Congress Party's Meira Kumar , a former speaker of the lower house, are Dalits — on the lowest rung of the Hindu hierarchy, once termed "untouchables." But the fact that the BJP now dominates aIndia's New President, Until Now Little-Known, Vows To Represent Less Fortunatehttp://wknofm.org/post/indias-new-president-until-now-little-known-vows-represent-less-fortunate
93222 as http://wknofm.orgThu, 20 Jul 2017 16:26:00 +0000India's New President, Until Now Little-Known, Vows To Represent Less FortunateJulie McCarthyUpdated at 10:50 a.m. July 11 In a cold, isolated Himalayan plateau where three countries converge, an old rivalry is heating up. New Delhi and Beijing are locked in heated verbal exchanges over what each sees as encroachment onto a particularly sensitive spot: the tri-junction where India, China, and Bhutan converge. All three are parties to the simmering dispute. Tensions flared in mid-June, when China began constructing a road in the disputed Doklam Plateau. Both Beijing and Bhutan claim this territory. The Bhutanese note that the process of the boundary settlement is still under negotiation, and the status quo cannot be changed. The tiny Himalayan country turned to India, its long-time ally, for help. "India is de facto responsible for Bhutan's security," explains Sameer Patil, the director of Gateway House, an Indian foreign policy think tank. "China's territorial incursions in the Bhutanese territory threaten Bhutanese — and therefore Indian — security." Not far from the plateauIn A Remote Himalayan Corner, Tensions Rise Between India And Chinahttp://wknofm.org/post/remote-himalayan-corner-tensions-rise-between-india-and-china
92828 as http://wknofm.orgMon, 10 Jul 2017 22:17:00 +0000In A Remote Himalayan Corner, Tensions Rise Between India And ChinaJulie McCarthySmall cradles of chrysanthemums, illuminated by a single candle, flicker in the moonlight, bobbing along the fast-flowing Ganges River . They are offerings. For hundreds of millions of Hindus around the world, the river is the goddess Ganga , or Mother Ganga , who descended to Earth from her home in the Milky Way. Devotees murmur prayers and chant her praises in riverside cities along their ghats, the cement embankments that lead into the river. But if the Ganges is India's most worshipped body of water, it's also the dirtiest. Flowing through five populous states that make up the Ganges basin, it traverses tanneries spewing heavy metals, factories spilling industrial effluents, and cities discharging urban waste. All of that, before dumping into the Bay of Bengal. The headwaters lie in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand where there's an unusual bid to clean up the river underway. The state's high court has declared the Ganges to be a " living entity ." Environmental lawyer RajWill Giving The Ganges Human Rights Protect The Polluted River?http://wknofm.org/post/will-giving-ganges-human-rights-protect-polluted-river
92515 as http://wknofm.orgSun, 02 Jul 2017 18:00:00 +0000Will Giving The Ganges Human Rights Protect The Polluted River?Julie McCarthyCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Let's go next to India, where the world's largest democracy tomorrow rolls out an overhaul of the tax system, which has a lot of Indians concerned. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: We've come to one of Delhi's premier markets to gauge reaction to India's new plan to tax goods and services. It's called the Goods and Services Tax. Sanjiv Mehra is the president of the traders association here, and he also runs a toy store in the market. Mr. Mehra, are the traders here ready for this rollout? SANJIV MEHRA: No. Actually speaking, no, because there is no clarity as to how it has to be executed. So people mostly are confused right now. MCCARTHY: Even government officials talk of being super-stressed while citizens blame them for doing little to prepare the public. The GST, as it's called, unifies over a dozen different taxes in India's convoluted tax system. It could be a boon for lawyers. Legal challenges haveIndians Are Nervous And Confused Over Upcoming Tax Changeshttp://wknofm.org/post/indians-are-nervous-and-confused-over-upcoming-tax-changes
92442 as http://wknofm.orgFri, 30 Jun 2017 12:42:00 +0000Indians Are Nervous And Confused Over Upcoming Tax ChangesJulie McCarthyAs India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the U.S. over the weekend, President Trump tweeted a warm welcome , calling the Indian leader "a true friend." The two are meeting for the first time at the White House Monday afternoon, Modi having arrived for a brief, two-day call — not a state visit, but a working one. Perhaps that's fitting, as there is so much in the relationship to work on. A host of issues now divides the two leaders, including the Paris climate change agreement, which Modi supports and Trump rejects, and the treatment of Iran as a pariah state, which Trump supports and Modi rejects. India wants the U.S. to ensure visas for its skilled workers, including IT engineers. But Trump says the visas have been misused and undermine jobs for Americans. Perhaps the most important outcome of their meeting will be putting to rest the notion that the U.S.-India relationship is adrift. Maya Mirchandani, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation , a New Delhi thinkTrump And India's Modi Share Similarities, But A Host Of Issues Divides Themhttp://wknofm.org/post/trump-and-indias-modi-share-similarities-host-issues-divides-them
92280 as http://wknofm.orgMon, 26 Jun 2017 18:27:00 +0000Trump And India's Modi Share Similarities, But A Host Of Issues Divides ThemJulie McCarthyMadeshwaran Subramani is the human face of IT disruption in India. He recalls being recently summoned to the HR office of his employer in southern city of Coimbatore at 11 a.m. By noon, the 29-year-old software engineer was out of a job. He worked for Cognizant Technology, a U.S.-based firm with offices in India. "They give only two options," explained Subramani: Leave immediately and take four months' pay, or stick around another 60 days and leave with two months' salary. Subramani, who has a mortgage and a child, says he was given one hour to choose. He'd been with Cognizant since graduating from college. "Nearly eight years' experience [as an] associate," Subramani says wistfully. "Within one hour everything is over." He walked out and, days later, was ferrying customers in his car, which he turned into a taxi. India is capping unprecedented success and expansion in its IT sector with something equally unprecedented: layoffs . For decades India's IT talent has maintained the world'sIndia's Tech Firms Face Fundamental Shift From IT To More Advanced Techhttp://wknofm.org/post/indias-tech-firms-face-fundamental-shift-it-more-advanced-tech
91739 as http://wknofm.orgTue, 13 Jun 2017 08:55:00 +0000India's Tech Firms Face Fundamental Shift From IT To More Advanced TechJulie McCarthyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tabnM-ZwqiY Typically, India's Bollywood film industry depicts older women as maternal and virtuous. Younger ones often are eye candy, propping up male leads. But a recent crop of films is showing more complex female characters, training a spotlight exclusively on the lives of women — and, even more unusually, on their sexuality. The lighthearted Lipstick Under My Burkha , two years in the making, is one new film taking female roles in a new direction. It follows the "secret lives" of four women living in the Old City of Bhopal. Director Alankrita Shrivastava says she wanted to explore how women in small, traditional urban centers are identifying with the new, aspirational India. "It's really bubbling in small towns," Shrivastava says. "They can see this new India, and it's within reach — that mall is a bus ride away. They are on the verge of wanting much more than what their lives are supposed to be" as wives and mothers, she says. "I wanted to exploreFeminist Films Push Boundaries In Indiahttp://wknofm.org/post/feminist-films-push-boundaries-india
91370 as http://wknofm.orgSat, 03 Jun 2017 22:26:00 +0000Feminist Films Push Boundaries In IndiaJulie McCarthyCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: India's Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for four men. The defendants had fatally gang raped a young woman on a bus in the capital in 2012. The case shocked the country. And just a warning here that details of the crime are disturbing. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from New Delhi. It was the savagery of the crime that guided the court's decision. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: It was the culmination of a legal drama that had gripped India, ignited street protests and created demands for the fast-tracking of rape trials. At the heart was the life of an aspiring young woman brutally cut short. Attorney Karuna Nundy says it was a trauma that galvanized the country four and a half years ago. KARUNA NUNDY: You know, the young woman who was raped was every woman for so many people, including me. She seemed hardworking and nice and responsible, talented. MCCARTHY: In the emotionally charged case, Nundy says she witnessed somethingIndia's Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence In Brutal Gang Rape Casehttp://wknofm.org/post/indias-supreme-court-upholds-death-sentence-brutal-gang-rape-case
90204 as http://wknofm.orgFri, 05 May 2017 20:31:00 +0000India's Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence In Brutal Gang Rape CaseJulie McCarthyIn India, Hindu nationalists have swept recent elections , and flush from victory, stand accused of using vigilantism to promote a Hindu way of life for all Indians. At a buffalo market outside the town of Nasirabad in central Rajasthan, transporters say Hindu vigilantes have targeted them on rumors that they have sold, bought, or killed cows for beef. Mohammad Salim is a driver at this market with its forlorn-looking animals corralled beneath a canopy, twitching in the scorching heat. Salim is a Muslim, like many of the men who work at this hardscrabble market. He was carrying buffalo to slaughter two weeks ago when he says he was stopped outside New Delhi, the Indian capital. "A car intercepted me," Salim says. "And a girl got out and said – 'what's in your truck?'" Soon some 15 men were on him — self-appointed cow protectors, according to Salim, who insisted he was transporting cows. They beat him and stole his money. The police who came to the scene extorted more, he says. He isVigilantes In India: Protecting Sacred Cows, Promoting A Hindu Way Of Lifehttp://wknofm.org/post/vigilantes-india-protecting-sacred-cows-promoting-hindu-way-life
90025 as http://wknofm.orgTue, 02 May 2017 11:18:00 +0000Vigilantes In India: Protecting Sacred Cows, Promoting A Hindu Way Of LifeJulie McCarthyCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Indian-administered Kashmir has been in revolt for a long time. The territory is mostly Muslim, and it's claimed by both India and Pakistan. The violence has gotten worse ever since a young militant was executed last summer. Protesters have become more aggressive. Three were killed just last week while confronting Indian security forces. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: Traveling south from Srinagar, Kashmir's main city, we turn onto a pockmarked road past apple orchards framed by snow-capped Himalayan peaks. The scenic hamlets of south Kashmir Valley, say locals, are a hotbed of militancy. A group of young women has agreed to meet us in secret to explain how they are now confronting security forces face to face, hoping to assist the militants. ASIA: (Foreign language spoken). MCCARTHY: "As soon as people hear that the soldiers have cornered the militants, we come out and try to help them escape," oneKashmir Women Risk Their Lives Aiding Militants Against Indian Armyhttp://wknofm.org/post/kashmir-women-risk-their-lives-aiding-militants-against-indian-army
89045 as http://wknofm.orgThu, 06 Apr 2017 20:30:00 +0000Kashmir Women Risk Their Lives Aiding Militants Against Indian ArmyJulie McCarthyA holy man, recently installed as the chief minister of India's largest state, is stirring things up. A meat crackdown began within 48 hours of Yogi Adityanath assuming office. Critics say this has antagonized the country's largest religious minority: its Muslims. Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: We told you recently about a controversial politician in India, a Hindu nationalist who was elected to run that country's biggest state. Many Muslims and other religious minorities are worrying about how his policies might affect them. Here's NPR's Julie McCarthy with an update. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: In Ghaziabad, an hour outside New Delhi, sits the clamorous, garbage-strewn Muslim community of Islam Nagar... (SOUNDBITE OF CAR HORN BEEPING) MCCARTHY: ...Where the tension between Hindu nationalists and Muslims is playing out over meat. Islam Nagar is home to more than two dozen Muslim meat traders who deal mostly in buffalo. Unlike the cow, there is no social tabooNew Chief Minister For India's Largest State Has Tumultuous First Weekhttp://wknofm.org/post/new-chief-minister-indias-largest-state-has-tumultuous-first-week
88572 as http://wknofm.orgMon, 27 Mar 2017 09:06:00 +0000New Chief Minister For India's Largest State Has Tumultuous First WeekJulie McCarthyMarried at 14 and divorced by 16, Seema Parveen had a marriage as brutal as it was short. Now 42, Parveen remembers her husband threatening to hurl her from the balcony of their home. She blinks back tears recalling his rage when she bore him a daughter and not a son. "His whole family was upset," she says. In conservative northern India where they lived, boys are preferred over girls — who have been traditionally viewed as a burden. When her daughter was one month old, Parveen went to stay with her mother. "That's when my husband wrote and said, ' Talaq . ' " All that's required for a Muslim man in India to end a marriage is to declare, talaq , which means divorce in Arabic. Pronounced three times, it's irrevocable. Many Islamic countries have banned the practice. Parveen says her husband rebuffed all her attempts to return to him. "I was so young," she says, "I didn't know what was happening." Maimoona Mollah, president of the All India Democratic Women's Association, Delhi Chapter,Muslim Women In India Ask Top Court To Ban Instant Divorcehttp://wknofm.org/post/muslims-india-ask-top-court-ban-instant-divorce
88549 as http://wknofm.orgSun, 26 Mar 2017 11:00:00 +0000Muslim Women In India Ask Top Court To Ban Instant DivorceJulie McCarthyLate last year, India sought to force people with large amounts of cash stashed away to deposit it in bank accounts. It was a tax-collecting exercise to get people to disclose unreported wealth and pay up. The government credits the move for a 12 percent increase in tax collections from the previous year. Enlarging that base is no small thing in a country where only a tiny percentage of people actually pays income tax. India ranks 13th of 18 among its democratic peers within the G-20 countries when it comes to paying tax, according to the country's 2017 Economic Survey. At a cavernous office complex in Gurgaon, Delhi's modern neighboring city, India's professionals are employed at corporate firms where tax compliance is high. That's in large part because taxes on the wages of this growing class of analysts, technocrats and consultants are directly withheld. Devika Dhingra, a 23-year-old analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says she's proud to pay taxes "because I'd like to believe it'sWhy Do So Few People Pay Income Tax In India?http://wknofm.org/post/why-do-so-few-people-pay-income-tax-india
88394 as http://wknofm.orgWed, 22 Mar 2017 14:58:00 +0000Why Do So Few People Pay Income Tax In India?Julie McCarthyCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: For generations, India has tried to embrace religious freedom despite a history of religious violence. A recent election in the country's largest state is putting that tension front and center again. Here's NPR's Julie McCarthy. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: The new leader of the state of Uttar Pradesh has been called the mascot of militant Hindu sectarianism. And throughout his political career, Yogi Adityanath has worked to transform officially secular India into a Hindu rastra, or state. Shankarshan Thakur is a senior editor of The Telegraph, an Indian daily, and says few can match the 44-year-old Yogi's sectarian virulence. SHANKARSHAN THAKUR: He has consistently campaigned against the main minority, which is Muslims in India. He has called for their prosecution in unambiguous terms. He thinks India belongs to Hindus. He has won several elections speaking that language. MCCARTHY: While Adityanath is considered on the extreme endHindu Priest With A History Of Bigotry Selected To Run India's Uttar Pradeshhttp://wknofm.org/post/hindu-priest-history-bigotry-selected-run-indias-uttar-pradesh
88336 as http://wknofm.orgTue, 21 Mar 2017 09:04:00 +0000Hindu Priest With A History Of Bigotry Selected To Run India's Uttar PradeshJulie McCarthyCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: India is absorbing the news of a shooting outside of Kansas City. Last week, a gunman killed one Indian man and injured another along with an American. The Justice Department is now investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. To tell us how people in India are reacting to this, we're joined by NPR's Julie McCarthy from New Delhi. Hi, Julie. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: Hi, Ari. SHAPIRO: What is the narrative in India? How is the story being told over there? MCCARTHY: Well, you have two Indian professional IT people - Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed, and Alok Madasani, who was injured. There in the United States as high-skilled workers. There they're legally. They've got advanced degrees from American schools. They were living the archetypal dream for many Indians, and so there's nonstop coverage about this incident. Social media is buzzing with it and talking about a toxic atmosphere that might be taking hold in the U.SIn India, People React To Killing Of IT Worker In Apparent Hate Crimehttp://wknofm.org/post/india-people-react-killing-it-worker-apparent-hate-crime
87652 as http://wknofm.orgMon, 27 Feb 2017 21:38:00 +0000In India, People React To Killing Of IT Worker In Apparent Hate CrimeJulie McCarthyWith the Trump administration vowing to tighten rules for skilled workers entering the United States, India's software services companies are worried. Indian IT giants outsource tens of thousands of tech specialists to the United States each year , and limiting the visa program that brings them in could disrupt their multibillion-dollar industry. Congress and the White House have targeted what is arguably the most coveted of U.S. visas: the H-1B. It's "a kind of temporary work visa that allows professionals from other countries to work in the United States for a designated U.S. employer," explains Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University immigration law professor. Yale-Loehr says that with the economy strengthening, the program is in particularly big demand. Last year, U.S. companies that sought to bring highly skilled workers to the U.S. filed 236,000 petitions that went into a lottery for just 85,000 H-1B visas, the legal cap. The bulk of the winners: Indian computer specialists,Indian IT Outsourcers Anxious Over Potential Changes To H-1B Visashttp://wknofm.org/post/indian-it-outsourcers-anxious-over-potential-changes-h1-b-visas
87166 as http://wknofm.orgWed, 15 Feb 2017 03:35:00 +0000Indian IT Outsourcers Anxious Over Potential Changes To H-1B VisasJulie McCarthyEver since Genghis Khan used tree bark as legal tender and backed it up by threatening anyone who didn't use it with death, governments have manipulated paper money to suit their purposes. When India abolished its highest-value rupee notes last November, it sought to rein in hoarders of big bills who evade tax. However, the move sucked so much cash out of circulation that it destroyed the wages of millions of Indians who earn in cash, and deprived millions more of access to their money. If it seems radical, it turns out a lot of countries have considered scrapping big bills. Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father who extolled the virtues of paper money , graces the $100 bill, which Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff says ought to be retired. But instead, he says the $100 bill has been growing as a proportion of all U.S. currency in circulation. "And that's pretty much true across the advanced economies, where there are huge amounts of cash that's been printed but most of it in big bills,What Can India Teach Us About Abolishing High-Value Currency?http://wknofm.org/post/what-can-india-tell-us-about-worth-abolishing-high-value-banknotes
86941 as http://wknofm.orgThu, 09 Feb 2017 10:28:00 +0000What Can India Teach Us About Abolishing High-Value Currency?Julie McCarthyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_7YlGv9u1g One of the biggest-ever overseas successes for Disney is grounded in a real-life story out of India. The film, released in late December, is called Dangal – Hindi for "wrestling competition." It follows two sisters born in the highly traditional north Indian state of Haryana — a place where women often veil their faces and where in 2015 India's prime minister launched a campaign against a longstanding practice of terminating a pregnancy because the fetus is female. With the coaching of their father, the girls — Geeta and Babita — grew up to become world-class wrestlers. In the past four weeks Dangal has reportedly become the highest-ever grossing film in Hindi-language cinema, earning more than $70 million in ticket sales, according to the Bollywood box office site koimoi.com . The film is being distributed in other locations, including North America, where it's passed $10 million in revenues. The movie might never have been made had it notUnexpected Heroines Of An Indian Box Office Hit: Female Wrestlers http://wknofm.org/post/unexpected-heroines-indian-box-office-hit-female-wrestlers
86220 as http://wknofm.orgFri, 20 Jan 2017 16:33:00 +0000Unexpected Heroines Of An Indian Box Office Hit: Female Wrestlers